“My name is Ulysses Paxton.”
“It is a strange name, unlike any that I have ever heard, but you are unlike any man I have ever seen—you do not seem Barsoomian. Your colour is unlike that of any race.”
“I am not of Barsoom, but from Earth, the planet you sometimes call Jasoom. That is why I differ in appearance from any you have known before.”
“Jasoom! There is another Jasoomian here whose fame has reached to the remotest corners of Barsoom, but I never have seen him.”
“John Carter?” I asked.
“Yes, The War Lord. He was of Helium and my people were not friendly with those of Helium. I never could understand how he came here. And now there is another from Jasoom—how can it be? How did you cross the great void?”
I shook my head. “I cannot even guess,” I told her.
“Jasoom must be peopled with wonderful men,” she said. It was a pretty compliment.
“As Barsoom is with beautiful women,” I replied.
She glanced down ruefully at her old and wrinkled body.